9 people+7 dogs=1 fun weekend

Finally!!!! This weekend was the long awaited "Farm Gate 2008" out at the property!  I had been looking forward to this for quite some time, especially after the fun we had over Memorial Day!  This time, Moriya and Marci got to join in the fun with Olive and Sammy!  

We met up with them in New Albany to mini-caravan out to the property!  Nick and I arrived first and soon after, we saw the Moriya mobile pull up with Sammy and Olive hanging out the window, ready for some action.  Chino saw them too and proceeded to put himself on high alert, as he tried to figure out how to catch a ride in their car, since it was obviously the cool place to be.

Once we arrived, it was time to get everyone acquainted.  Chino knew everybody, but Olive and Sammy had to sniff a few butts before all was well.  As a precaution, Michelle had the place stocked up with air horns incase the pack got rowdy (which it did).  This is just inevitable when you've got a pack of brown dogs with strong personalities.  Chino and Sammy kept going at it - and since both of them are mouthy, grumbly dogs - you'd think that one was eating the other, even though both tails are wagging and they kept taunting each other for more.  Sammy would smack Chino to instigate a rumble.  Chino would happily oblige and hit her right back and then the wrestling and rumbling would start.  It was only when the others tried to join in that the air horns (or VODKA) had to be used to separate the pack.

Once all of the formalities were done (you sniff  my butt, I'll sniff yours) and Michelle and Sue met Moriya and Marci - we set up our tents and proceeded to enjoy a nice long day of eating, drinking, drinking, drinking and eating some more!  The set-up out there continues to evolve. The latest addition is a big TV wired with Direct TV for optimal game viewing!  Everyone enjoyed a relaxing day, watching college football, exploring the fall foliage of the property and dodging dripping wet mutts (brace your knees).  Moriya took the time to explore and take some AWESOME pictures of the farm, the foliage, the pups and the scenery.    Everyone went all out for this event: sloppy joes, Marci's chili, Moriya's veggies and hummus, Linda's man beans and more!   Nick was so outnumbered.  His only comrades were Chino and Moose.  Luckily, Michelle and her friends were into football and I had Marci and Moriya to NOT watch football with.  So he jumped back and forth between the game, the food and the fire, I stuck mostly with food and fire - checking in periodically.

I think these two pictures should be titled:  

Mommies and the doggies who love them!

Pretty soon, it was game time.  The sun had gone down and the layers were going on!  It was a chilly and starry night and perfect campfire weather!  The fire was exquisite and on more than one occasion it was noted that it was so perfect that it looked staged.  The heat that came off of it, made it so that you had to rotate yourself to avoid getting too "well done".  

Marci and I chose to hang out by the fire and sacrifice the front row seats by the TV.  We found the fire to be more entertaining for a variety of reasons which included:  1. Free career advice by someone who ALMOST had her associate's degree in HR (yes, we know about Careerbuilder.com, no, we will not join a union and no, $1500/quarter will not keep me living in the lifestyle that I've grown accustomed to),  2.  Moriya's interest/obsession with the stars (just lay down on the ground, they look better).   After the game, it was time for s'mores and then time to crawl into our tents with our doggies and go to sleep.

The next morning, we all woke up to another beautiful day - it was a little rough at first, but everyone slowly snapped out of it.  In typical Michelle and Sue fashion - breakfast was glorious - coffee, muffins, donuts, fruit and HOT DOGS!!!!!  Moriya had turkey dogs, which peaked the interest of the pack of brown dogs.  Here she is with her pack of BFFs...

The campfire was still burning, so that helped everyone wake up and re-animate.  Before long, it was time to get packed up and head home.  Between trips to and from the cars, Sammy kept watch, making sure that we were all cleared to enter the fence.  This picture is so funny - she looks such like a guard dog.  What you can't tell is that as soon as you walked through the gate, that tail of hers (and her butt!) started wagging like crazy, welcoming you back to her little piece of heaven.  I think she had the most fun out of all the mutts, as she was still going 100% on Sunday, when the others had laid down and chilled out.  

Multiple trips to the car later, we were on our way home.  It was such a fun weekend!  This will definitely be a more than annual gathering!!!!  

**Thanks to Moriya for taking such GREAT pictures!!!  I pulled just a few from her flickr site**